Butternut Squash Gratin

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I’d like to start this post by saying that I just LOVE it when y’all make my recipes and enjoy them. It makes me so happy! But to have an entire post dedicated to one of my recipes? I am beyond flattered – thank you so much, Sprite’s Keeper. I love you, Jen! (And you’ll have my spin tomorrow – I just had to think a bit about how I wanted to tackle it.)

Now for the recipe. Which is, yes, another butternut squash dish. We got two small ones, maybe a pound-and-a-half each, in our CSA box last week. One of them was roasted and divided into two perfect 1/2 cup portions for the pancakes (Beloved’s new favorite breakfast when topped with over-easy eggs) and the other became this.

At any rate, I’m running a wee bit late today – Beloved heads out of town again for a week tomorrow (I hate it when he has to travel over the weekend) and we’ve been spending a lot of, er, quality time together. This morning I was looking at the photos of this dish I’d taken, when he came up behind me.

“Get any good pictures?”

“Meh – they’re okay, I guess.”

“Yeah, that was something that tasted a lot better than it looked.”

Indeed it did. Not that it was gross-looking or anything, but hey – it was sliced squash covered with cheese. Not a helluva lot of ways you can “pretty” that up.

I is, however, a lovely, mellow, slightly sweet dish – warm and comforting, it’s a great substitute for scalloped potatoes. It’s a also a very basic dish; there are many ways you could jazz it up a little – it would benefit from some minced fresh sage or basil, I think, or definitely some red pepper flakes for a nice kick. I used my mandolin to slice it very, very thinly but you could slice it a bit more thickly; just remember to adjust the cooking time. Also, if you’re using coconut milk, you might want to thin it down a little with water until it’s the same consistency as heavy cream.

For the cheese I topped it with a very nice goat milk Gouda, but Parmesan would be great, too. For a bolder flavor, try a sharp cheddar or even some bleu cheese.

Layer half the squash slices in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with half the salt and pepper. Pour half the coconut milk or heavy cream over the squash; repeat with remaining squash, salt, pepper and coconut milk. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the squash, cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the squash is very tender.

Brown the top of the gratin by heating it under a hot broiler for 1 or 2 minutes, if desired. Serve immediately.

Looks delicious! This is going on my list of dishes to make soon. Also, can I just say I love simple yet tasty side dishes? Sometimes I get so frustrated trying to decide what I’m going to do with my veggies. My standard solution is roasting or sauteing, but sometimes I just want something…more. Thanks for sharing this!